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Josh- I will be in St. Louis tomorrow. I am going to really ry to make it out to a game!!! I hope it all works out!
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Congrats Andre. You are super awesome and so much fun to watch.
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I work late tonight so I will miss the entire game :( Go Get Em Wolf!

“I think you can rip it and grip it for a time or two,” Ramirez told the Dodgers’ official Web site, “but over the course of catching the ball in the outfield … it’s going to ache on you.”
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Hopefully, Ramirez gets over this hand soreness soon. I’d hate to see Torre treat him with kid gloves (pun intended) like he did when Manny was coming back from his 50 game PEDS suspension.

Hi Everyone,
Looking forward to this week’s games. With the Dodgers playing in the central and eastern time zones, I’ll get to watch all of the games and still go to bed at a decent hour. I feel this road trip is another test for the Dodgers. 4-3 would be a passing grade.

I remember listening to an interview with James Cameron, the director of “True Lies” among many others. He was talking about asking permission to blow up the actual highway bridge in the Florida Keys instead of building the models. He was turned down of course, but I remember his quote, “Hey, you never know unless you ask!”

That’s why J.P. Ricciardi is asking for the moon. He doesn’t HAVE to trade Halladay. At least not right now. Some idiot might just……………….OH NOOOOOOOOOOOO!?!??!?!?!?!?

I see Bud Selig’s working towards his own canonization by pondering whether he should let Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame (He’d have to be voted in, of course, but his record speaks for itself. Unfortunately, so does his attitude). Of course, any story this big would take the heat off of his embracing acceptance of PEDs in baseball.

The Hall of Fame in Cooperstown consists of two parts.
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1) A museum with exhibits commemorating the history of the game, etc. When I went there five years ago Pete Rose was represented in the museum at least once.
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2) The sacred Hall itself. Pete is not represented there.

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Pete Rose was an important player and it is good and right that his accomplishments and those of the powerful “Big Red Machine” are represented.
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Pete Rose was a cheater of the most blatant sort, and as far as I can tell still an unrepentant one. His “apology” was weak. Whenever I hear Pete on the radio, all he wants to talk about is how Pete is being mistreated. When Pete starts talking about how he mistreated the game, the Reds organization, Reds players, etc … then I might begin to reconsider my attitude (as if my attitude is of any importance). Until then I strongly feel that the name of Pete Rose should not sully the sacred Hall.
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I might not object to him being admitted posthumously. Baseball fans deserve to appreciate his accomplishments. Unfortunately, Pete himself does not.
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Finally, the gambling is worse than the PEDs because at least when a player takes PEDs we can assume he is doing it to make himself a better player and more valuable to his team. No such assumption can be made about a manager who bets on his own team – even if he always bets for them.

The Dodgers did not take advantage of a big opportunity with the series against the Marlins. With the two teams behind the Dodgers playing each other, the Dodgers could increase the lead over at least one of those teams with a victory but by losing two of three games the Dodgers lost ground to the second place team, a team that is playing very well right now. The good news is they did not really play all that badly but the bad news is they continued to struggle to score runs. The problem yesterday was not so much Schmidt because he was gone early; the problem was Weaver could not keep the game close enough. So much for yesterday.

I don’t know if the team feels this way but it is clear to me that this series with St. Louis and the series that follows with Atlanta is critical. It should be an interesting week.

Hey Folks, first time here on this blog. I used to keep up with LA Times blog until they changed the format… I heard a lot about this one…so here I am. Not to take too much from the game….but its a commercial break anyway so….just a few more details

31, from CA, but in SC now
going to ATL this SAT for road game
lived in BKLYN, so got a looooot of cool Dodger stories…..

Every time Matt bats 8th and comes up in a situation where he could drive in a run or two he’s going to get walked either intentionally or unintentionally to get to the pitcher and he’ll be wasted. I just don’t understand Joe’s reasoning for batting our best all around player 8th. Bison should bat 3rd, Manny 4th and Dre 5th. Man I hate joe.

Thanks lbirken. I’ve tried to do video chats with my family in CA, and no one is as die hard as me, lol. I found it hard to find where jimmy fallon crossed the line in fever pitch, whats wrong with going to spring training… i went to vero last year and it paid off when i met Mr. Koufax

lbirken – The DPs are not good. Too many chances for scoring on those just erased like that. However, with this team, it’s early still and we have learned we are never out of it until the last out of the game.

I have my moments, but this game may not be one of them. Hard to find something funny about hitting into four double plays unless you are Joe Torre, who hit into four double plays in one game and blamed the guy hitting in front of him for hitting 4 singles!

I didn’t expect much out of them tonight – travel all night, lose three hours going east, start the game an hour early. Then you have Joe as their manager who’s about as electric as pudding – and such the motivator.

Hey Collie!!! just for you……………….GO JUAN PIERRE!!!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!! You know how hard that is to do? Also, I would like to know what was in the BBQ sauce of D4’s. As the saying goes..”When the cats are away, the mice will play”, but in this case, my cats and dogs are playing with D4 too – LOL!!! Dodger4life – I am just funnin’, but I know…………….. I will expect payback sometime soon:)

Hello there Nelly! Hope your having as much fun away as D4 is having at home!!!
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It’s hard for me to but my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek.
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I’m sarcastic when I’m hacked off… & I’m hacked off!!!
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I’m so sick of going to St. Louis and losing. So annoying.

But it is good to see where we stand. We need more if we are going to get that Ring. That is very evident.
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The problem is at this time I don’t see a whole lot out there that can help us out.
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Getting Halliday would be great but not at the cost of any of our 25 and half the farm.

Here’s my take on obtaining a starter – you either go after Halladay or Lee or you go after no one. We’re going to the playoffs no doubt about that. We’ve got enough arms that can throw and be a #5 (except Schmidt – just stick a fork in that guy), so another Wolf (Jerrod Washed-up) doesn’t do you any good. We’re not trying to win the season, we’re trying to win the series. Only a Halladay or Lee will help you there. Now the question becomes, would I give up the farm to obtain either one?

The very fact that the Dodgers’ lefty “specialist” is a rookie named Leach speaks volumes about Ned. He NEVER addressed the pitching woes so evident even before Spring Training began. He’s still living off the bump Manny gave him, in terms of being a “successful” GM. And to try and rectify the pitching situation at the trading deadline will cost this team dearly in prospects…if it can be rectified at all.

Joe, I hear the Jays want the farm for Halladay, in our case that would undoubtedly include Kemp, Kershaw, and another pitcher…maybe Leach or Mac. Way too high a price IMO. Supposedly they asked for 3 top notch players.

The San Francisco Giants have acquired first baseman Ryan Garko(notes) from the Cleveland Indians, filling a big need in the infield and adding a key right-handed bat.

Garko was a late lineup scratch for the Indians on Monday before they opened a road series against the Los Angeles Angels. He was batting .285 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs in 78 games for Cleveland, including .343 this month.

The Giants, who fell out of the wild-card lead with a 3-7 road trip, gave up Class-A left-hander Scott Barnes in the deal. Barnes was 12-3 with a 2.85 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 18 starts and 98.0 innings.

Welcome, Daze. Of course there is one major problem with this site: MLB is using 1994 internet technology.
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Tonight has been a prime example of the absolute insanity of wasting Matt Kemp in the 8-hole. Most of the night the Cards just pitched around him. And why shouldn’t they? That’s what I would do.
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It is not at all difficult to project Matt Kemp hitting .325, 20 HRs, 75 RBI, 25 SB if he was hitting in the top half of the order. Personally I would have him hitting third (certainly while Manny was out). Just imagine the difference in the quality of pitches he would get with Manny behind him.
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This guy should be a worthy MVP candidate (well, if there was no Albert Pujols), and JoJo has him hitting eighth.
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It really is astonishing.

Shad – It’s kind of an understood thing that if the gnats don’t make the playoffs (and some even say better than that), then Bochy is gone anyway. It get talked about alot on their radio station. However, anything can happen in this crazy business.

If I was them I’d rather have Ishikawa but since him and Aurilla were in a platoon I don’t think Garko would be a bad move for them. I just check Garko numbers and his obp is good but he’s been in a platoon with Martinez at 1st.

I hope your right tb4. I hope that this game is not a bad omen of things to come on this road trip. Remember the Dodgers haven’t had a prolonged losing streak so far this year. Things have been going so well I’m always afraid the other shoe is going to drop.

Okay – I am getting time warped again. I am heading out in a few anyway. Have a great evening Dodger Blue fans!! We haven’t lost two in a row all season, and we are not going to let it happen tomorrow. It has been one of many great things about this team this season.

Well thanks everyone for the kind welcome. I can truly say I have not had this much fun during a loss. Tomorrow will be a better result, Bills will dominate!!! I think I’ll watch a Tommy rant on youtube to lift my spirits.

1963 — You are correct sir. They were sleepwalking today. Hopefully it’s just due to a bad travel schedule and they snap out of it. I was bummin yesterday but they clawed back so I thought they might be ready today.
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Guess not…

Take care Nelly… we need to get those tix soon!
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*****Josh****** This blog needs some work. It’s really messed up. Please get IT to fix it soon. It’s really annoying!
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Thanks for running it. When it doesn’t work well it makes one realize how much it’s missed!

Bob — I thought the same thing. Bases loaded with a relief pitcher coming into the game. As a pitcher you are thinking that you have to get a 1st pitch strike. As a hitter you have to think the pitcher is thinking that.
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He grooved it and Kemp should of been swinging at it.

Good evening ITD boys and girls!
Today’s game is the kind of game where I’d like to walk up to the Dodgers and strangle them. No, not really, but it was just SOOOO frustrating to watch. I mean, Manny comes up with men on base in his first 2 at bats, and grounds in to DPs on each of them. And when he leads off an inning, THEN he hits a double. I mean, couldn’t he have done this during any one or both of the DP innings? It wasn’t just him, but it was still frustrating to watch. We had their best pitcher on the ropes early, and we couldn’t capitalize on our chances. Ah, nuts!

Cpompe! I know what you mean in your post. This game was soooo frustrating. Oh, I just feel for Wolf.
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Jesse,
Welcome to the ITD!
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Amy,
So you are going to St Louis?! Bring us a win and stay cool. It is very humid there!
Emmahttp://crzblue.mlblogs.com/

Just wanted to share this with you all cause sometimes people say that I am such a fan. I tell them there is plenty of us!
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You must be the most dedicated Dodgers fan!
Julia
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Julia,
…. Thanks but I read the passion and dedication from so many fans here in the MLB blogs and other Dodger forums, and Baseball forums from any team. We are just sport fanatics supporting our teams at the stadium or religiously following them from afar.
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A friend comes to mind who was in Asia. Thai would get up in the middle of the night to follow the Dodger games in game thread even the ones during Spring Training. Then all of sudden we stop hearing from “Thai” A few months later we started noticing another fan posting in the game thread with the name “Thaidad”. Someone said “We used to have a poster by the name of “Thai” “Are you by any chance his dad?” “he said “Yes, he was my son.” He got killed in a car accident.” “I came here to read what my son was posting.” sniff..remembering all this brings tears to my eyes. -Emma

Emma – thank you for sharing that! And yes, there are a lot of dedicated fans here. The group of us that regularly gathers on the Red Sox beatwriter’s blog during the games – we are from across the US, Mexico, Canada and South Korea – and yes especially our military from S. Korea have to watch many of our games at odd hours and it is tough. And I bet Thai’s dad found solace in the words he shared with all of you; baseball has a great way of binding us together like that!
Julia
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Emma

Cpomp, sorry, I dozed off… the other Joe is the late Joe Schultz, ex-manager of the ill-fated Seattle Pilots, who were bought by Bud Selig and moved to Milwaukee to become the Brewers.

Just came across a great story on Vin Scully from the times: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-crowe27-2009jul27,0,1062184.column?page=1 . Some might’ve heard the story before, but it’s a good one, about Scully’s first big broadcasting assignment of a College Football game in Boston. The young Scully left his coat and gloves at the hotel, expecting a warm booth at Fenway Park for the winter game… and… well, read the story ;)

You know Shad, these moron writers never cease to amaze me. Put aside the fact that management has already said Kershaw is untouchable, and that Torre compares him to Koufax, look at the illogic of that article…

You’ve got two top starters – Billz and Kersh. You’ve got two rather pedestrian starters – Wolf and Kuroda, and you’ve got a black hole – 5th spot. How is trading one of your top starters for another top starter going to help things? That’s a lateral move. Even in the playoffs, you still only have two top starters. The point is adding a third, not replacing a second.

Not to mention you’d be trading a 21 year old that will probably be the dominant pitcher in either league in 3 years for a guy you’ll at best only get 1+ seasons from.

Do any of these writers actually follow baseball, let alone the Dodgers?

TRU – They do follow sports. I thing that they pretty much know Kershaw is a good and talented pitcher and will be a BIG NAME in the future. They just want for the Dodger’s to get rid of him so that Kershaw moves to the EAST COAST and leave Dodgers powerless. Reverse Psychology!

These sports writers just don’t do their homework. It’s been pointed out–on this blog, no less–that as a veteran with five-years tenure on the same team, Halladay can demand a trade this winter, if he is indeed traded at the deadline. Why on Earth someone with a shred of brains would even “consider” Kershaw or Billingsley in a trade for Halladay (or anyone, for that matter) is ludicrous. These two guys are the future of a dominant rotation. Ned has a history of over-paying at the trade deadline (Manny being his ONLY exception, with apologies to LaRoche fans). As a Dodger fan forever, it would please me muy mucho if a World Championship came to LA in 2009. But the sun will come up either way. There is no guarantee Halladay will bring such a championship in the next two years. I’d rather gamble on the continued development of the kids for the next decade, than a fleeting two-year window of opportunity with Halladay and Manny. Now if the Dodgers want to package Martin and a few prospects, be my guest.

KAHLI – well said, but ruined it with the last sentence (well for me). But I know they have to do what is best for the team. I still have hope for Martin. TORONTO…near Martins home. Boooohooooo….I hope MARTIN wins a ring with the Dodgers! LATER out for lunch!

Andre Ethier(notes), Los Angeles Dodgers: Ethier was NL player of the week for the second time this year and is the only Dodger to win the award. He’s already matched his career high in homers (20), and it isn’t even August. With Kemp, Ethier, and Manny, the Dodgers may have the best outfield in baseball.

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